The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-01-20
sWORDFISH AND SHARK.
An Exciting Tale Of tho Deep blue SEES.

what strange thing has come
lthwart my hawser in the last
lozen yearsl" unused Capt. Csrnes
Il the brig Mary, as he shifted his
,uid.
well, I might tell you Of bit OF
dventuro that happened to my vessel
ne day among the Windward Islands
4 the Caribbean Sea.
ave were Just to the east OF the
roup. and about fifteen miles away.
when there came dead calm. The sea
vas like mill pond. and the sun beat
Town like ball Of fire.
"One Of the men, who was sloft for
omething, discovered q large shark
providing around the brig, and
gave the men permission to bait for
him.
They baited hook and tempted
him, but he would not even smell Of
the pork. He was straight-out man
eater. and he wanted sailor or
nothing.
He made two or three circuits
about the vessel, his dorsal fin showing
above water, and he then settled down
on our port quarter, about twenty feet
away, and kept his eyes fastened
on the heads OF the men above the
rail.
well. sir. there was something so
aggravating in that shark settling down
there, a. II determined to stay until
some Of US tumbled overheard.
that we all made up our minds
to drive him away after some
fashion.
1--WE had harpoon aboard. and
one Of the men used 1t to give the fish
several bad gashes, but after each wound
he'd make circuit and come back to
the old spot. You may rip u shark from
stem to stern and he won't seem to mind
the hurt.
by and by the mon got so hot that
they asked leave to man the boat and
either kill the grim devil or drive him
away.
II consented, and q sailor named
Williams scrambled into the yawl as
she swung at the davits to cast off when
she was down. The falls had scarcely
been manned when one OF them
parted, and the boat dropped stern
down.
THE sailor was pitched ten feet
away, and as he struck the water there
was yell from every man on the brig
He pitched right at the shark, and
We expected to see him grabbed up in q
second.
Indeed, we all saw the fish whrl
over and make rush. but there was
also a second rush, and as the sailor
swan alongside and seized a rope
terrible combat began in the water
We knew that one Of the fighters was
the shark, but it was minutes before
we made out that the other was
swordfsh.
IL calculate that rumpus lasted all OF
fifteen minutes.
"They fought on the surface and
under it, they circled and came back.
they went under the brig and around
her, and the sea was churned to perfect
foam all the time.
"The affair finally ended by the shark
turning belly up, as dead as a hammer,
and guess there wasn't foot OF him
which hadn't felt thrust of the sword.
He bled like stuck hog, and was only
fairly dead when the Swordtish took a
run for the brig.
He backed of about fifty feet and
came full tilt, and, as true as In sit
ting here, he made her Shiver as he
struck. That sword OF his struck good
oak plank, sheathed with copper, but
nothing stopped it until it showed for
six inches in the hold. We saw him as
he backed off, and knew that he had
lost his weapon.
-" 1t was terrible hurt, and when a
breeze sprang up and filled our sails he
was still floundering around the sharks
body, seeming to have lost his compass
points altogether.
ION the way down to Trinidad the
brig made considerable water, and when
we came to unload her cargo we found
the sword sticking into her as l have
told you.
a portion Of it was afterward car
ried to Boston, and is probably there
vet"